Happy Tuesday! It’s almost the end of the month, so I am sharing the books I read this month and what I am currently reading. I read nine books this month. We had a lot of snow days and late starts and I took advantage of it. Luke and I spent a good bit of time in the car, too, so we finished two books and are in the middle of a third. I am linking up with the Share Your Shelf ladies – Joanne, Marilyn, Tanya, and Jenn – so be sure to check them out on Thursday for other great bookish posts.
One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery ☀️☀️☀️☀️
**Sunshine and Books 2024 Christmas Book**
I think this might be my favorite Susan Mallery book. Julie is a widow and mother of grown children. She is not so sad when her children tell her they aren’t going to their family cabin for Christmas. Julie is looking forward to alone time with her much younger boyfriend, Heath. Well, it all comes crashing down when her son and his new wife change plans, her daughter changes her plans, Heath’s ex-wife changes plans and he will have his kids, and they all want to come to the cabin. Then, the ex-wife ends up coming to the cabin, too. Everyone has a secret they need to share and this holiday has disaster written all over it. There are definitely bumps in the road, but they make the best of it and have a great Christmas! I really enjoyed it!
Spy School Goes North by Stuart Gibbs (audio)
This is the 11th book in the Spy School series. Ben and the gang are hiding in Alaska, working on their spy academy skills when a centuries long fued with Russia calls them into action. This was the perfect book to read when it was absolutely freezing because it felt like real life. Lke the other 10 in the series, it is funny, full of adventure and history, and absolutely entertaining!
The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy ☀️☀️☀️☀️
**Sunshine and Books 2024 Christmas Book**
Callie moved to follow her boyfriend after college and he dumped her soon after she arrived. They work at the same company and she cannot get away from him and his new girlfriend. She decided not to go home for Christmas (the boyfriend’s is her family’s next door neighbor) and definitely isn’t in the Christmas spirit. Callie’s sister, Anita, is determined to get her into the holiday spirit and makes an advent calendar full of treats and tasks like their mom used to make. They are all set to do it together when Anita has to leave town for a two week work trip. Callie promises to continue with the treats and tasks. It just so happens that she keeps running into Marco, the handsome baker, and he joins her for the remainder of the calendar. Of course it doesn’t all go as planned, but this fun holiday read ends exactly the way you think it will!
Natural Selection by Elin Hilderbrand ☀️☀️☀️☀️
This short story felt like a departure from Elin’s books. It is no secret that I LOVE ELIN’S BOOKS, but this one wasn’t my favorite. Sophia is heading on a “cruise” to the Galapagos Islands with her boyfriend when he gets a mysterious phone call at the airport and leaves her. She decides to continue on with the trip, but it is not her idea of fun. She has some time for reflection and self-discovery, makes friends with the other passengers, and enjoys the natural beauty around her. When she finally gets a call from her boyfriend, a huge secret is revealed and Sophia has to figure out what she wants to do moving forward on the trip and when she returns home.
From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough (audio) ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
This book was recommended to me by the fairy who does my fairy hair and I absolutely loved it! Julia Roberts is the narrator and she does a fantastic job. There are also recordings of Lisa Marie’s interviews while she was writing the book before she died. Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s eldest daughter, wrote part of the book and narrates her part. Wow! This was a wide open look at Lisa Marie’s life from when she was a little girl at Graceland until she died. It is raw, honest (I hope), and entertaining. I couldn’t wait to get in the car and listen!
The Christmas Cookie Wars by Eliza Evans ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
**Sunshine and Books 2024 Christmas Book**
This was a fun book with small town cliques, a single mom, a handsome principal, and a very close family. Melody feels like she is constantly getting lectures from her boys’ elementary school principal for being tardy, missing emails, and the boys’ behavior. When the head of the Cookie Days committee, steps down and disbands the committee, Melody decides to take over. Her sister and parents are supportive, but also question what she is doing because being a committee chair would not be her typical role. Melody and the principal get to know each other while they are trying to figure out who is sabotaging every event along the way. It’s funny, sweet, and an easy Christmas book. I loved it!
Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sopie Cousens ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️
This was a fun concept and I love Sophie Cousens’ books, so it was a great book for me. Anna is a writer for a small, local magazine that is bought by a big media company and every person needs to prove their worth to keep their job. She’s divorced with two children and happy to be single for a while. However, she needs a great column idea to wow the new company. She comes up with the idea that her kids will pick ten men for her to date. The dates are good, funny, awful, awkward, and always entertaining. She is forced to team up with her office rival when he proposes online dating with similar themes to Anna’s column. Its a rom com so you can imagine how it all goes, and I loved it!
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs (audio)
This is the first book in the FunJungle series. Luke has had it on his shelf for quite a while and said he wanted to listen to it after we finished Spy School Goes North. It is the same author and narrator, so that part is great! This is a fun series about a new zoo theme park where things aren’t quite as they seem. The main character, Teddy, is 12 and basically has free run of the zoo when it opens. This isn’t a spoiler, but the zoo’s main mascot dies very soon after the zoo opens and Teddy is determined to find out why. He gets himeself into a bit of trouble and but is determined to figure out what happened to Henry Hippo. There are 9 books in the series and we are already into the second book. I love that Stuart Gibbs writes books with middle school aged boy main characters that are full of adventure and humor.
The Royals Upstairs by Karina Halle ☀️☀️☀️
I thought this book was fine, but as a warning there is a lot of open door romance. I don’t think of my self as a prude, but I will say it was a bit much for me. The story was good and I enjoy reading about royal families, fiction and real life, but I found myself wanting more story and less bedroom material. I read The Royals Next Door in March of 2022 and gave it three sunshines as well. I don’t remember if it was as open door as this one, but I think this will be my last book by Karina Halle. I should have been clued in when the covers of her other books look waaaaay different than these chick lit type illustrations.
Currently Reading: Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
Currently Reading: The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
Currently Listening: Poached by Stuart Gibbs
You can always checkout what I’ve been reading on my Books 2025 page. I have all of my yearly reading pages linked here if you want to see what I’ve been reading since 2018.
What a great month of reading! I read nine books and am excited to be reading the three I am reading right now. February brings a few swim meets and chilly weather so I am hoping to keep up this reading. I am still waiting for The Women at the library, Libby is saying I will get it in about 3 weeks so my fingers are crossed! Was January a good reading month for you? What was your favorite book of the month? I can’t wait to hear! Have a great day full of sunshine and books!
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.
Thank you for reading and supporting Sunshine & Books.